Daniel Mark Woodards (born 8 October 1983) is an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who last played as a defender for club

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

. He previously played in the Football League for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

and

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

Club career

Early career

Woodards was born in

Forest Gate Forest Gate is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England. It is located northeast of Charing Cross. The area's name relates to its position adjacent to Wanstead Flats, the southernmost part of Epping Forest. The town ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He began his career as a trainee with

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, playing 70 times plus 10 substitute appearances (scoring 8 goals) for the reserve team in the period 2000–01 to 2004–05, but was released during the summer of 2005 without making a senior appearance for the club.

Exeter City

After spending a short time on trial with

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

, he signed on non-contract terms for Conference National club

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

on 29 October 2005. Woodards was able to impress manager

Alex Inglethorpe Alexander Matthew Inglethorpe (born 14 November 1971) is an English former footballer who played as a forward for Watford, Leyton Orient, Exeter City and Barnet. He is now the Academy Director at Liverpool FC. Biography Playing career Born i ...

enough to secure a contract through the 2006–07 season. During his time with Exeter, Woodards proved himself to be a versatile and talented player. Able to play both as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and right-sided winger, he quickly established himself as Exeter's first choice right-back.

Crewe Alexandra

After rejecting a series of new contracts from Exeter during the 2006–07 season, Woodards had a trial with

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

during the January transfer window. Glovers manager

Russell Slade Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English professional football manager, who was most recently managerial consultant of League Two club Stevenage. Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional ...

was reportedly interested in signing the English defender, but it was

Dario Gradi Dario Gradi, MBE (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former amateur football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of t ...

of fellow League One side

who managed to sign Woodards for a fee of £30,000 and a 20% sell-on clause.

MK Dons

He signed a two-year deal at

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. ...

after his contract expired. He was released at the end of the 2010–11 season after turning down a new contract. His only goal for MK Dons came in a 2–1 win at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

on 7 August 2010.

Bristol Rovers

Woodards signed for

on 26 August 2011 on a one-year deal, making his debut in the League Cup 2nd Round away to

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

. He made his league debut in a 4–1 defeat at

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

on 3 September, and scored his first goal against AFC Totton in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. Woodards 'signalled interest' in signing a contract extension at

on 12 June 2012, an extra year being added to his previous one-year deal.

Tranmere Rovers

After a successful trial at Tranmere, Woodards signed on an initial six-month deal on 28 July 2014 and was allocated squad number 17.

Boreham Wood

After leaving Tranmere, Woodards signed for newly promoted

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

club

in July 2015. Woodards was released by the club at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodards, Danny 1983 births Footballers from Forest Gate Living people Men's association football defenders English footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers Chelsea F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players